BeatMonstas
Chicago, Illinois, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
The old saying goes, "Two heads are better than one." But for the Beatmonstas, why stop at two? Consisting of Phashara, Noble Dru, Nipples Tha Pimp, Diamond Back, Aum Mu Ra and DJ Sean Doe, the Beatmonstas is a massive crew of talented emcees and producers. Hailing from the windy city, the crew's debut album - The 3rd Weapon - delivers a vintage boom bap style that is sorely missed in today's Hip-Hop game.
While it may take you awhile to get familiar with each emcee on the album - as you definitely need your linear notes handy throughout - your patience with The 3rd Weapon will pay off. With a variety of strong beats, the production provides the necessary backbone for the album. A prime example is the stunning piano loop of "Paradise," which the Beatmonstas ride perfectly to spit their pimp games to the perfect woman of their dreams. Also outstanding is "Tha Warning," as the crew constructs a vicious beat and a golden hook that will stay permanently burned into your brain for days. "Four Four" follows this same formula, as the crew offers a mixture of vivid street tales. Additionally, the Chi-Town anthem of "5th City" finds 211 ferociously spitting over Phashara's roadrunner beat.
Even though The 3rd Weapon is a cohesive and consistent release, there are a few missteps to be found. While lyrically solid, the irritating and overbearing vocal sample of "La, La, La" overshadows Phashara's effort. In addition, the spacey production on "Class Division" fails to hit home, leaving each emcee unable to recover over such a kooky backdrop. Nevertheless, the Beatmonstas offer an impressive debut that highlights their skills behind the boards. Chicago should be proud.
- MVREMIX
http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2006_03_3rdweapon.html - Rapreviews.com
Hip-hop has never been bigger in the Windy City than today. Just when you think you have seen or heard every quality group from Chicago, there’s another one knockin at the door. Meet the BeatMonstas. One of Chi’s biggest hip-hop crews, and a melting pot of every wind direction of Chicago, from the gritty streets of the Westside till the infamous Southside.
'The 3rd Weapon' is a promising effort with a variety of songs goin from soulful to grimey but always remaining true to the school of Boom-Bap. Variety also in lyrics; besides a few solo tracks, most of the songs have a line-up of crew members who fit amazingly well, only betraying the fact that they’ve been rappin for a long time already. However the first thing that will attract you is the production. The piano stabs of 'Paradise' stand out and outshine the singing in the chorus pretty much, the lyrics are sharp and playerish, hollowing at girls. In the same style is 'Overdrive' and 'Have A Word With You', both holdin a jazzy, lively vibe that we ain’t heard since the Tribe Called Quest days. 'Class Division' has a grimier appeal with a raunchy sample and a political appal against the class system. 'Four-Four' is the album’s single and makes you breathe in the Chicago spirit from tip to toe, due to the production of an organ loop and funky drums. Then again 'Telephone Call Away', clearly the most soulful track on the album, reflects a more Detroit (read Dwele) mood.
To make things even more exciting and broader, there’s the melodic 'Wake Up', the raw, electronic sound of '5th City/211' and the club banger 'Tha Warning', turning this album into a quality piece of music. Besides Abstract Mindstate, this is the second revelation from Chicago, that surprised us this year.
- Platform8470.com
Discography
Beatmonstas 3rd Weapon Full length released November 2005
Telephone Call Away on rotation POWER 92 Peoria, IL
Four Four single on rotation WHPK 88.5 (Chicago)
WNUR 88.9 (CHICAGO), WKKC 89.3 (CHICAGO)
Four Four on DJ 3rd Rail's mix tape SUBWAY HIP HOP VOL 41 "MAKING DJ'S QUIT"
Four Four charted #3 on Rap Attack Lives and Rap network 2006
3rd Weapon released in the UK 2006
Songs streaming on Myspace.com
http://www.myspace.com/beatmonstas
Photos
Bio
Although they officially joined forces in 2003, Beatmonstas was founded in Chicago years before they adopted the moniker. Initially comprised of four members, the three emcees (Noble Dru, Phashara & Therapy) have revamped themselves into a socio-political b-boy trio.
Together, the Beatmonstas, have an aggressive rap flow that fills an obvious void in todays hip-hop environment. They bring that raw essence back that hip-hop heads loved from the early to mid 90s.
In the 90’s, Noble Dru, Therapy & Phashara were members of various underground hip-hop groups and crews in and around Chicago. Each of them experienced the highs and lows of rap life and dreams deferred. These common struggles eventually became the foundation for the trio to form the group. Soon thereafter Therapy came up with the name BEATMONSTAS because, as he put it “We’re monstas with beats and rhymes”.
In the true spirit of independence and in the face of the changing music industry Beatmonstas’ unofficial motto became ‘Do It Yourself! No exceptions!’ From production to recording, from graphic design to video production the Beatmonstas is independent hip-hop personified.
From the moment when Noble Dru and Phashara bought their own Akai MPC 2000XL’s (Initially intended for their respective solo careers) they began collaborating and sharing beat production techniques. That sort of free spirit gave birth to the well received yet often-misunderstood compilation album entitled “The 3rd Weapon” in 2005. OkayPlayer.com called it “crazily infectious and occasionally disorganized” yet they compared the group to “a street corner cypher featuring Group Home, Killarmy, and first-generation Slum Village.“
After releasing The 3rd Weapon in 2005 on their own independently owned and operated label, Beatmonstas Entertainment LLC, the trio licensed the album to Mind Lab / Southern Record Distribution in the United Kingdom. The project was released in the UK and Ireland to critical acclaim in 2006 and topped college radio charts across the US.
Since ‘06, the group spent the latter part of the Bush era crafting the masterpiece that is Bomb Til We Hit Em. Between projects the group members worked on and released various solo projects, each of which are underground hip-hop classics in their own right. The three emcees veer far from the typical rap cats when it comes to lyrical prowess. So says RapReviews.com, “The BeatMonstas shine brightest when addressing social issues, at one point calling themselves the ‘Ghetto PBS’.“
Beatmonstas today is a group of few men with real life experiences focused on the beats and the rhymes. They’ve concentrated their efforts on banging out their flavor of 90’s inspired hip-hop while becoming a new, improved and more cohesive unit.
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